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Argommi
The Argommi (Sauropithecus polydactylus) are the only intelligent inhabitants of the planet Alo in the Eta Cassiopeiae system. They are bipedal pseudo-reptilians with a defined snout and a wide range of pigmints for their scaly skin, and stores of fat and warm blood similar to terran mammals. Evolution Despite their clear resemblance to Earth's tetrapods, the Argommi--along with the rest of the land-dwelling "vertebrates" on Alo--evolved their familiar-looking shape through a very different means. While tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fish, Alo's "vertebrates" evolved from "invertebrates" similar to sea slugs, with hydrostatic muscles. These evolved a skeletal structure--based on copper, not calcium as on Earth-- as adaptations to life on land about 400 million years ago. Most "vertebrates" on Alo are egg-layers, with the majority of these incubating their eggs in a ventral brood pouch. History 'First Civilization' Early Argomni civilization reached its height in the 12th Century, centered on two empires on the planet's large longitudinal continental mass. These empires routinely warred against one another, but had interconnected trade routs between themselves and their various vassal states, pottery and art similar to those of the Japanese Edo period, and sprawling cities that managed an intricate series of irrigation systems. However by 1202 CE, what is believed to have been an asteroid struck the planet's northern quasi-Taiga forests creating a fire that released a considerable amount of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. 'The Great Flood' From 1202 CE to 1338 CE, Alo's mean temperature rose by 4 degrees C, melting the large ice caps covering the poles and flooding the Alo, destroying early Argomni civilization which primarily rested on the large open plains of the planet's lowlands. An estimated 100 million Argomni died in during the Great Flood. Only the survivors of maritime communities and mountain dwelling tribes survived the initial flooding, and another 70 million Argomni died of starvation and disease packed into ships after the flooding. 'Modern civilization' Modern Argomni civilization descends from the survivors of one of the old empires and various hill tribes who settled and conquered the new island chains formed from the old mountain ranges. Over many centuries these tribes had constructed great terraced farms that rival those on any known world. The planet's population had achieved a surprisingly high level of technological sophistication at the time of First Contact, equivalent to Earth in the latter half of the 20th Century. Power is concentrated in three large trading confederations, one of which still practices a form of slavery, similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. The Argomni depend primarily on geothermal, wind, tidal, and nuclear power to fuel their civilization, and appear to have never discovered fossil fuel sources, and instead have cultivated a type of seaweed which can be fairly easily processed into a useful hydrocarbon based fuel which has been in use since before the Great Flood as a source of lamp oil. There have been at least four planetary wars between these confederations in the last century, and nuclear weapons were developed 15 years prior to first contact during the last planetary war by two of the major powers. Nuclear warfare was practiced chiefly at sea, however, and there are no examples of nuclear attacks against civilian centers. 'First Contact' First Contact was made with humanity on April 1, 2113 when the contact team of the ISV-19 Beagle III sent a message to sea-based radio communication relays established by the space program of the Kuvo Republic, the leading power of the Osomi CoDominium, the most developed society on the planet. The message provided a series of tests to the local space agency that would allow the local population to discover the intent and origins of humanity and respond to the message. A reply was received on June 3, 2113 with a formal greeting and an invitation. There the human crew were greeted with some initial suspicion on the part of the local population, however the scientific community and business interests were very supportive of first contact. Humans proceeded with an adapted protocol designed for dealing with modern civilizations and were able to convince local leadership to allow them to build an embassy in their capital, and begin allowing the crew to join several universities and research agencies as guest lecturers and begin technology transfer. Public opinion of humanity softened after humans introduced the local population to several advanced consumer and medical technologies like wireless digital communications, genetic engineering, and robotic construction. Per first contact protocol, humans also made their presence known to every other civilization on the planet and requested the Kuvo government agree to host a global summit to establish relations with the other nations. The Great Conference of Argomni saw the whole of the CoDominium and the smaller of the three blocs, the Tilio'ramna Pact agree to host human embassies and accept technology transfer in exchange for a treaty outlining a common free-trade zone, nuclear arms reductions and adopting common protections for internet freedom. The second most powerful bloc, the Canavin Union, refused to accept the required arms reductions or internet freedom policies, and instead declared its opposition to human intervention into Alo political affairs. 'Alo Cold War' After the Great Conference of Argomni, the CU denied all formal relations with humanity while the TrP and OC established the Common Defense Pact, ending nearly 70 years of hostility between the two blocs that began after the OC's formation at the end of the second planetary war on Alo. Meanwhile on Earth, NASA attempted to reconcile how to approach this most recent diplomatic crisis on an alien world, while the US Congress feared that the Mexican-American Cold War could spread beyond the Solar System. During the Argomni Hearings of 2113, the US Congress determined that peaceful relations with the nations of the CDP did not violate international law, and testimony by the directors of NASA, the CIA, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the ITC all reaffirmed that Mexico would not be able to develop practical faster than light travel without anti-matter production, which was impossible as production facilities were too expensive to be built without the support of a post-scarcity colonial economy. By 2115 the United States signed the Treaty of Sansomi with the CU and the CDP, banning the sale of Terran weapons on Alo and declaring American neutrality in the Alo Cold War. This treaty was largely meaningless as CDP scientists were able to reverse engineer several human weapons advancements from peaceful technology transfer programs. By 2131 the CDP had its first operational model of Armor, and had begun mining the planet's two moons for Helium-3 to fuel fusion powered naval vessels and civilian craft. In 2131 the CDP member states met again in Sansomi and established the United Alo Protectorate, functionally federating the CDP member states under a common government. The UAP adopted the Quantum Economic Model during its formation and petitioned the Interplanetary Trade Commission for membership. By 2160 the UAP has matched the technological and social development of Earth, while the Canavin Union is facing resource shortages as it attempts to continue its Cold War against a society with limitless access to resources in space. The UAP formally petitioned the United States for Free Association Status in 2158, but the US Congress has yet to vote on this issue fearing that it would spark a nuclear war on Alo. Category:Alien species